Food Luminary Dinner: Lincoln Restaurant & Jacobsen Salt Co.

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT.

OMSI and Bon Appétit have partnered with local chef Jenn Louis of Lincoln Restaurant and Sunshine Tavern to create a delectable dinner of science and cuisine on Wednesday, January 22, 2014, 6-9pm in Theory. As an added bonus, Jenn's menu will feature salts from Jacobsen Salt Co.

The dinner will begin with a food science demonstration by an OMSI educator while enjoying wine and hors d’oeuvres. After a presentation by Ben Jacobsen and Jenn Louis, the restaurant will be serving a four-course meal created by Jenn in collaboration with Bon Appétit executive chef, Ryan Morgan. The chefs will also be answering questions and mingling during the dinner.

ABOUT JENN LOUISConsistent, simple and purposeful. This is the philosophy and approach that has propelled Chef Jenn Louis to a culinary career spanning nearly two decades. After graduating from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, Louis traveled throughout Europe and North and South America, even settling in Southern Israel for several months to work on a dairy kibbutz. Upon her return to California, she learned of a job opening from a close friend cooking for an Outward Bound base camp deep in the North Carolina woods. Louis landed the job and after a few short weeks at the camp, she had an epiphany that cooking was her passion and could lead to a successful and fulfilling life-long career – something she had never considered before. Louis followed this dream all the way to the Western Culinary Institute of Portland, and shortly after began working as a line cook at the prominent Portland restaurant, Wildwood.

In 2000, Louis’ entrepreneurial spirit led her to open Culinary Artistry, a full-service catering company, providing everything from valet service to floral arrangements to an array of menu styles. Today, it is considered one of the top event planning companies in Portland.

Eight years later, rooted by the myriad inspirations of their home, Louis and husband David Welch opened their first brick-and-mortar concept, Lincoln Restaurant. Lincoln is a balance between old and new, modern and classic, rustic and refined. Louis’ menu takes its cue from the seasons, harvesting locally-grown Pacific Northwest ingredients and transforming them into sophisticated, yet honest fare. Her mix of fortitude and finesse immediately made Lincoln a standout in the Portland restaurant scene. Just a few short months after opening, the restaurant was recognized as one of Condé Nast Traveler’s “Hot List” of 50 top new restaurants in North America, while Louis was recognized as a semifinalist for the 2010 and 2011 James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef Northwest.”

The success of Lincoln was overwhelming, but it sparked an idea for her next venture. In the spring of 2011, Louis and Welch launched their second restaurant, Sunshine Tavern, in the Southeast Division district of Portland. Louis and Welch sought to create a haven for both food enthusiasts and beverage connoisseurs, serving up soul-satisfying food, playful cocktails and an impressive selection of craft beers. For this quintessential tavern, Louis created dishes that are comforting and unfussy, while using the highest quality ingredients available – a philosophy she has felt passionate about throughout her culinary career. In 2012, the popularity of Lincoln Restaurant and Sunshine Tavern catapulted Louis’ presence on a national scale and she was named one of Food & Wine’s prestigious Best New Chefs. The following year, Jenn was selected as a cast member of season five of the hit Bravo TV show, “Top Chef Masters.”

When not in the kitchen or planning events, Louis can be found traveling the globe with her husband, teaching cooking classes, playing the drums or spending time with her three cats, White Cat, Orange Cat and Wasco.

ABOUT BEN JACOBSENBen Jacobsen owns and produces artisan hand-harvested sea salt at Jacobsen Salt Co., initially founded in Portland, Oregon and recently expanded to a facility located closer to the source in Netarts Bay, Oregon. Jacobsen Salt Co. harvests pure crystals straight from Oregon’s water in Netarts Bay to produce the finest artisan product.

Jacobsen’s relationship with food began with his mom’s spinach soufflé and memories of her making freshly baked bread at home in Vermont. His relationship with artisan salt, however, began in Denmark. He was studying there for an MBA when his girlfriend at the time fortuitously brought home a small package of finishing salt. It was a life-changing experience. As a student, he couldn’t afford many luxuries, but he could splurge on a small packet of good Scandinavian salt. Soon after, he brought finishing salt with him wherever he went. After living between Denmark and Norway for four and a half years, Jacobsen returned to the Pacific Northwest. The Portland food scene had blossomed, with excellent local products and ingredients available, but the area was lacking a quality artisan salt. Not only was Portland missing such an integral ingredient, but the whole country was as well. He thought it was strange that no one had tapped into the resources available right in Portland’s backyard to produce a good American-made salt.

In 2009, he started to experiment. It took him two and a half years of trial and error before he finalized the product in 2011. Not only did Jacobsen need to perfect the process, but he also needed to use the best water in Oregon. “For me, finding the best water was just like a winemaker finding the best grapes,” he explains.

After much searching up and down the Oregon and Washington coastline, Jacobsen found Netarts Bay, an area already world-famous for oysters. In July 2011, he participated in a vendor fair at New Seasons Market with just a little bit of salt. When he found out New Seasons’ buyers wanted to order more than he had, he knew he needed to start a company. Jacobsen Salt Co. was officially created in August 2011. In just a few months, his salt was on the shelves at New Seasons and local chefs were using it to cook their favorite dishes.

When he first started the company, Jacobsen hauled tens of thousands of pounds of water from Netarts to Portland in order to harvest the salt. He rented a moving truck and borrowed 275-gallon wine totes from a friend. With six of these totes at one point, the truck kept getting larger and larger. At that point, he knew he needed a facility on the coast, and he finally settled into an old oyster farm right in Netarts Bay in December 2012.

Jacobsen’s favorite dish on which he garnishes salt is simple—he likes to put the classic finishing salt on eggs and toast in the morning. He sees Jacobsen Salt Co. as an approachable, user-friendly luxury, which partly influenced the company’s small, pocket-sized salt tins. In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his dogs, cycle, be outdoors, and drink coffee inside on rainy Oregon days.